Youngstars turn producers

After the likes of Siddharth, Kalyan Ram and Nithiin tasting success with their production attempts, it’s the turn of Naga Chaitanya and Nara Rohit, who are at the peak of their career, to venture into full-scale film production. Allu Sirish is also expected to follow suit in years to come

The stakes are sky high, but the young guns of Tollywood are prepared to take risks. Gone are the days when their sole interest was to collaborate with top-notch production houses and make lesser-known producers wait for their dates. Things have undergone a major makeover as the current lot is more interested in producing films themselves, keeping in mind the audience requirement from them. Happening young actors like Nithiin, Kalyan Ram and Siddharth – the trio who had their share of ups and downs – have taken to production like fish to water, thereby giving a much-needed impetus to their career. With back-to-back duds, Nithiin, along with sister Nikitha floated Sresth Movies and presented ‘Ishq’. The success of the film ensured that the actor retained his boy-next-door image and at the same time proved that he was not a two-film wonder. What followed was another production ‘Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde (GJG)’ on the same banner. The result: Better box-office numbers than ‘Ishq’.

Explaining the reasons for the success of the films produced under his home banner, Nithiin says, “At every stage of the shoot, I make sure that the project heads in the envisioned direction. Marketing plays a key role in the success of a film these days and some producers don’t spare enough capital for promotions. If I associate with my own banner, I can promote it the way I want and can also reshoot it when something goes off track, like the way we’ve shot both ‘Ishq’ and ‘GJG’. I can’t have the same liberty with other producers.”

Siddharth’s career too, was on a downward spiral until he produced the Telugu-Tamil bilingual ‘Love Failure’, a film, which besides raking in the moolah, has gone places; it was recently screened at the Beijing Film Festival.

Kalyan Ram, who couldn’t get a producer of his liking, had taken the task on himself and produced the successful ‘Athannokkade’ last decade. He is also credited with producing and starring in the first 3D movie of Tollywood, ‘Om’. And now we hear that he is also breaking the norms and producing a film with Ravi Teja, an actor who is not from his family. That’s not it, sources close to him have confirmed that his banner NTR Arts will produce NTR and writer Vakkantam Vamsi’s new project, expected to start late this year.

Following in the footsteps of their senior stars, other noted faces like Naga Chaitanya and Nara Rohit have already ventured into production. While the Akkineni scion is overseeing the production of ‘Oka Laila Kosam’ – his film with director Vijay Kumar Konda, Nara Rohit has joined forces with Ravi Panasa to produce ‘Naladamayanti’. It stars his good friend Sri Vishnu in the lead role.

States Naga Chaitanya, who has production running in his blood, “It was a conscious effort as I’m passionate about production. I’m interested in making films in the future, so dad his given me an opportunity to supervise production of ‘Oka Laila Kosam’. We are through with the talkie portions; only songs need to be shot.”

Giving insights into the trend, filmmaker Madhura Sreedhar points out, “Unlike the 85 odd new producers who enter the industry every year and go empty handed, thanks to their lack of understanding on the craft of filmmaking and business acumen, the stars on the other hand are aware of the dos and don’ts. They can plan the film in a stipulated budget and shoot according to it since they also feature in it. Nobody has a sway over a big-budgeted production, but when it comes to small films, they can easily control all departments. Moreover, with the expertise that they bring to the table, the chances of the film scoring at the box-office are high.”